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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sat Sep 26, 2026 12:25 pm 
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ppetroff60 wrote:
Respected BassdudeNZ! I have one more request for you! Could you create a theme about Native Americans? The AzDude website from the WinCustomize website has excellent Native American wallpapers in 4K format. If I get permission from him to use his wallpaper, it could be a great theme for Winstep Xtreme! :)

It's a pity that I can't contact you directly, so I'm leaving a message on the Winstep Xtreme forum!


I sure can and you will need to screenshot that permission when you include it.
That said I can create one and you can simply use his... If you post a link to it, I can look at it and make sure I create place the modules to work with it.

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“We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums.”
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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sat Sep 26, 2026 12:30 pm 
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@PPETROFF60

Here is the Medieval them pretty much close to finished. Maiden with the fish, separate stand-alone moon.
The menus are bulky but they are theme appropriate.

I need to get back to fixing the ones I have already done as there are a lot but I will certainly consider the Native American - Keep in mind I have already done a "Wild West" with a lot of Native Americans in it so it may be doubling up??

Post a link to AzDude's Indian wallpaper (not the Wallpaper - the Wincustomize link) as it might work with the wild west theme. I won't know until I look. His stuff is always good, he's a really talented person.
Cheers

P.S - While they were formulating the idea of batteries then and DaVinci was centuries ahead of his time, the Battery module is represented by the Battering Ram, almost a double entendre - "Batterying Ram" :lol:
I can remove the dragon if you wish and just have the calendar because the dragon is mythological and I'll probably change the day color from green to unshadowed plain black.... Let me know.
Attachment:
Medieval.jpg
Medieval.jpg [ 323.13 KiB | Viewed 401 times ]

Attachment:
menus.jpg
menus.jpg [ 385.96 KiB | Viewed 401 times ]

_________________
"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
-Charlie Parker

“We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums.”
― Zhuangzi


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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sat Sep 26, 2026 2:53 pm 
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Respected BassdudeNZ! There must be something mythological about this topic! Let's leave the calendar with the dragon. Virgo with a fish by the water turned out great! It turned out to be a great theme! Thank you very much!
AzDude has not yet responded to my message. Here is the link to the wallpaper: https://www.wincustomize.com/explore/wallpapers/59438/


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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sat Sep 26, 2026 3:26 pm 
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ppetroff60 wrote:
Respected BassdudeNZ! There must be something mythological about this topic! Let's leave the calendar with the dragon. Virgo with a fish by the water turned out great! It turned out to be a great theme! Thank you very much!
AzDude has not yet responded to my message. Here is the link to the wallpaper: https://www.wincustomize.com/explore/wallpapers/59438/


OK Wild West theme won't work with this even though the colors are moderately similar.
To work with that Wallpaper, I'd need to be very simple. I agree, that is a really good wallpaper. As I mentioned, he's talented. His masking, layering and texture mapping skills are very good.
Don't concern yourself if he takes a couple of weeks. If it gets past a month, then yes.

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"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
-Charlie Parker

“We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums.”
― Zhuangzi


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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sun Sep 27, 2026 3:02 pm 
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@JORGE - while this theme is certainly over the top, the colored tabs work great with it.
One question, when I upload it, does it save the settings in the tabs or only the colors I put on the original images?
The colors work well on darker and glossy too
Attachment:
Graphs.jpg
Graphs.jpg [ 388.84 KiB | Viewed 366 times ]

_________________
"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
-Charlie Parker

“We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums.”
― Zhuangzi


Last edited by BassdudeNZ on Sun Sep 27, 2026 5:24 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sun Sep 27, 2026 3:27 pm 
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Respected BassdudeNZ! I have received permission from AzDude. This permission is: "Yes, you have my permission, thank you, Az (Mike)." This is very good news!

The link: https://www.wincustomize.com/explore/dream/16186/ :D :) :lol:


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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sun Sep 27, 2026 4:07 pm 
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ppetroff60 wrote:
Respected BassdudeNZ! I have received permission from AzDude. This permission is: "Yes, you have my permission, thank you, Az (Mike)." This is very good news!

The link: https://www.wincustomize.com/explore/dream/16186/ :D :) :lol:


I have screencaptured his permission and yours here. :)

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"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
-Charlie Parker

“We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums.”
― Zhuangzi


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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sun Sep 27, 2026 4:44 pm 
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@PPETROGG60

I have done a quick 1st draft of the base or possibly secondary menu to match the wallpaper. Early days yet...So this could change. American Indians are also gatherers not just hunters so there is a wide berth in several ways.

Believe it or not, I actually do have a life doing other things :lol:

I will get onto it when I can as I have few non-Winstep things I must do.
Attachment:
1st draft menu.jpg
1st draft menu.jpg [ 58.63 KiB | Viewed 368 times ]

_________________
"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
-Charlie Parker

“We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums.”
― Zhuangzi


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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sun Sep 27, 2026 5:47 pm 
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Respected BassdudeNZ! I understand you perfectly! Life goes on! And you need to rest! And it's better to go on a trip where you haven't been before. Hobbies always come second. Sincerely, Peter. :lol:


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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sun Sep 27, 2026 9:10 pm 
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ppetroff60 wrote:
Respected BassdudeNZ! I understand you perfectly! Life goes on! And you need to rest! And it's better to go on a trip where you haven't been before. Hobbies always come second. Sincerely, Peter. :lol:


I will get to it. You have seen how many themes I already have in the gallery? I have another 8 new ones to upload including two you requested.
All of the ones in the gallery have to be updated, especially the ones with complex menus that stretch in older versions so they have the correct entry corresponding to 26.9. It is a LOT of work recompressing approximately 60 odd themes, outside of the new ones.

I found I can make a single file that only has the single ini file in it and put most of the 60 into one zip file because each is around 4Kb. While it is easy for me to understand and work with, it would be a pain for everyone else, because I'd need a lengthy explanation file and many people would be posting TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read).

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"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
-Charlie Parker

“We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums.”
― Zhuangzi


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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Sun Sep 27, 2026 10:21 pm 
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Some people may ask why I need to recompress updates when I have already uploaded compressed files?

Simply - I do NOT trust Windows from past experience. Both of my working and testing computers have full uncompressed Winstep themes on them. Why? A large proportion of each theme contains relevant folders I delete when I copy the theme to be compressed - such as: 3D templates, obj's, High Resolution images, textures, layout templates, layered images, masks, layered menus, etc etc etc... So all the end user sees is the main directory, flattened png's and possibly a SubTheme folder.

I keep these on two computers because if one computer dies, I still have the original files on hand as well as external backup. Some of the layering is moderately complex. Nobody I know enjoys editing a complex flattened png file.

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"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
-Charlie Parker

“We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums.”
― Zhuangzi


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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Mon Sep 28, 2026 1:04 am 
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@@PPETROFF60

here's a rough idea of the direction I am going. AZDUDE indicated a strong connection with his wallpaper to the Indian Spirit belief so I ran with it. Anyway I cannot do any more for a day or so but I will finish it. Plain moon, plain weather, plain calendar so the wallpaper doesn't get lost. Disk May only be a single graphic - I haven't gone that far yet... I will likely put the center horse and head on submenu.
Cheers
Attachment:
American Indians draft.jpg
American Indians draft.jpg [ 663.13 KiB | Viewed 351 times ]


ALSO

Below is a second additional one I temporarily have discarded even though I like it. It is relevant because they did have Winter but as I mentioned, I'll wait until I have more time.
Attachment:
Ammerican indian winter.jpg
Ammerican indian winter.jpg [ 170.08 KiB | Viewed 351 times ]

_________________
"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
-Charlie Parker

“We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums.”
― Zhuangzi


Last edited by BassdudeNZ on Mon Sep 28, 2026 1:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Mon Sep 28, 2026 1:11 am 
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BassdudeNZ wrote:
Some people may ask why I need to recompress updates when I have already uploaded compressed files?

Simply - I do NOT trust Windows from past experience. Both of my working and testing computers have full uncompressed Winstep themes on them. Why? A large proportion of each theme contains relevant folders I delete when I copy the theme to be compressed - such as: 3D templates, obj's, High Resolution images, textures, layout templates, layered images, masks, layered menus, etc etc etc... So all the end user sees is the main directory, flattened png's and possibly a SubTheme folder.

I keep these on two computers because if one computer dies, I still have the original files on hand as well as external backup. Some of the layering is moderately complex. Nobody I know enjoys editing a complex flattened png file.




Oh, it's a lot of work! It takes a lot of effort and time! There are many themes in the gallery! I can imagine how many themes are stored on your computer that are not even represented in the gallery!


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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Mon Sep 28, 2026 1:30 am 
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Я думаю, что AZDUDE, как и мне, действительно понравится дизайн его обоев Winstep, благодаря вам! :lol:


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American Indians draft.jpg
American Indians draft.jpg [ 663.13 KiB | Viewed 351 times ]
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 Post subject: Re: Theme approach
PostPosted: Mon Sep 28, 2026 9:43 pm 
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@PPETROFF60

Here is the final draft. I cannot tidy it up today but I will get to it this week sometime. I finished it because of a personal flaw of disliking to leave something unfinished. Anyway I have to get back to a few other things and I hope you are content with how I approached it, I have only shown the first main menu (there are two) and the first submenu (also two). It will sort of look like this.
the difficult part will be the fonts with the colors in the matching menu. I will probably have to use shadows which are not very clean generally, so there will be a fair bit of experimentation to get the right ones and colors that do not get lost, likely white with shadow and light grey with shadow... will see when I have more time.
Cheers
Attachment:
American Indians final draft.jpg
American Indians final draft.jpg [ 2.87 MiB | Viewed 280 times ]

_________________
"They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
-Charlie Parker

“We can't expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums.”
― Zhuangzi


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